David Nicholsonin Devon, UK Zone 9b"Victims of satire who are overly defensive, who cry "foul" or just winge to high heaven, might take pause and consider what exactly it is that leaves them so sensitive, when they were happy with satire when they were on the side dishing it out"

In our part of the world, many suppliers of snowdrops do not offer excellent older varieties like ´S. Arnott´anymore, because they may more easily make money with newer, more expensive ones. It´s good to know that reputable specialists like Avon Bulbs still care to sell them.

What about Wendy's Gold at £30!! The quality may be good but the price points do seem based on maximising revenue take from newcomers who may be unaware of cheaper prices elsewhere (e.g. WG can be found widely at prices as low as £10 - £12. I have always had good quality from Avon but I don't think I am being unfair on the pricing

On the other hand, Avon don't begin by selling a few on eBay for vast sums but rather launch snowdrops at what is, these days, quite a modest price for a new snowdrop. Of course a modest price for a new snowdrop is hugely expensive by comparison with the cost of almost every other sort of plant but compare the cost of 'Midas' (and now joined by 'Bitter Lemons') with the cost of 'Golden Fleece'. And you can pretty much guarantee good quality bulbs of full flowering size.

Just because the same variety is for sale doesn't mean the products are directly comparable.

Avon's 'potted in the green' have bulked up here like none I have sourced from other suppliers and are a superior product.

Having carelessly lost Wendy's Gold [don't ask] I'm replacing it from Avon because I know not only will it be true to name, but it will grow away without a check and be a clump sooner than 'bare rooted in the green'.

And I'm happy for them to make some profit to be secure to carry bringing new delights to the market.

That is one of the reasons I have bought from Avon, because I can trust the bulbs are what the label says. Snowdrops are usually so expensive that I can't afford to buy "wrong" plants.I hope they will be able to continue to sell dormant bulbs also to EU even after the Brexit. I don't know what I will do if I can't buy from Britain any more. Though, I have already over 100 different ones, so do I really need any more! I could grow my own from seeds in the future.

This is 'Moreton Mill', bought from Avon in summer 2015. It flowered in spring 2016, but was slow to start increasing, but this spring I think there will be much more flowers. I love poculiform snowdrops, also this one.Picture is from last April.

Surprisingly high prices for older varieties are asked for by other suppliers, too, as I noticed, even higher prices than a few years ago. There are only a few snowdrop-people like the Suttons of Desirable Plants, who pass on a good bulking habit via prices to customers. Anyway, when I ordered 1 G. rizehensis at 5 € to collect at Oirlich some years ago, I received a whole bunch from Alan Street.

Avon Bulbs have a sale on now for remaining galanthus ....... a 30% discount sounds quite promising .....

"For One Week Only - Snowdrop Sale

A limited range of Snowdrops that we have remaining is now available through the website. These are for despatch by First Class post very soon. If you order other plants at the same time that may well double up the postage charge as we generally deal with the two separately. There are sometimes only a few plants of any single variety. During the website Check Out process enter the Discount Code: GIG19 in order to obtain a 30% discount this applies to all the Galanthus except G. Treasure Island which is just too special to discount !"